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A review by georginap92
Daughters of Warsaw by Maria Frances
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Daughters of Warsaw is such a heartwarming, but heartbreaking tale of families torn apart by tragedy and above all having hope to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
This book is told from dual perspectives; main characters Zofia in war-torn Warsaw in the years 1942-1946 and Lizzie from Seattle in present day, both going through their own traumas, and having a plot line that sees their stories and lives connect!
Both characters were written really well, but in all honestly I did prefer Zofia, I found her story so heroic whilst being troubling, she was fighting in the resistance, against the occupation of the German’s in her home town whilst trying to keep her involvement hidden, as well as conducting numerous missions alongside Irena Sadler (one of the most amazing inspirational figures of WWII) Zofia portrayed such determination, grit and hope considering she was in the middle of war torn Warsaw with the absolute horrors of the Ghetto. I felt that all the research the author conducted really filtered through into Zofia’s character, and she really was the highlight of this book. I found her character to be more developed as well as more engaging, I found myself more interested in Zofia’s experiences and life than Lizzie’s.
Lizzie was a good character, however there were times throughout the book that she was coming across as depressed and to be honest slightly dull, she was struggling with her own troubles of fertility and marriage, which in comparison to Zofia’s plights seems immaterial, but it was still such an important topic and I like the fact that she was able to find some happiness in the end, I just wish the fertility issue was covered a bit more throughout the book (other than the triggering mentions of miscarriages)as I feel this could of added to her character a bit more.
The world building was very visual and slightly graphic in places, with half the book being focused during war time I was expecting more details regarding the horrors that occurred, but this was kept quite minimal compared to other historical fictions I have read, but I loved the comparison of Zofia’s Warsaw to present day Warsaw that Lizzie was experiencing, it was very humbling and interesting to read about the differences time had made.
The plot was well developed, and I liked the way that the chapters flicked between timelines and perspectives, it was interesting to see both MCs come to life across the pages, and the characters that they interacted with, I loved Zuzanne, Irena and Helena and found that their personalities really did come off the page! Plus, the plot twists throughout the book were great, there were characters that did not make it which really threw me off, as well as the ending which was joyous and refreshing to see in a historical fiction novel, as often the subject matter is dark, so the endings are often far from happy.
This is a great introduction into historical fiction, and to the story of Irena Sadler, this is a novel I would recommend to those starting out in this genre, as I feel seasoned historical fiction readers may find this book just slightly too romanticised.
This book is told from dual perspectives; main characters Zofia in war-torn Warsaw in the years 1942-1946 and Lizzie from Seattle in present day, both going through their own traumas, and having a plot line that sees their stories and lives connect!
Both characters were written really well, but in all honestly I did prefer Zofia, I found her story so heroic whilst being troubling, she was fighting in the resistance, against the occupation of the German’s in her home town whilst trying to keep her involvement hidden, as well as conducting numerous missions alongside Irena Sadler (one of the most amazing inspirational figures of WWII) Zofia portrayed such determination, grit and hope considering she was in the middle of war torn Warsaw with the absolute horrors of the Ghetto. I felt that all the research the author conducted really filtered through into Zofia’s character, and she really was the highlight of this book. I found her character to be more developed as well as more engaging, I found myself more interested in Zofia’s experiences and life than Lizzie’s.
Lizzie was a good character, however there were times throughout the book that she was coming across as depressed and to be honest slightly dull, she was struggling with her own troubles of fertility and marriage, which in comparison to Zofia’s plights seems immaterial, but it was still such an important topic and I like the fact that she was able to find some happiness in the end, I just wish the fertility issue was covered a bit more throughout the book (other than the triggering mentions of miscarriages)as I feel this could of added to her character a bit more.
The world building was very visual and slightly graphic in places, with half the book being focused during war time I was expecting more details regarding the horrors that occurred, but this was kept quite minimal compared to other historical fictions I have read, but I loved the comparison of Zofia’s Warsaw to present day Warsaw that Lizzie was experiencing, it was very humbling and interesting to read about the differences time had made.
The plot was well developed, and I liked the way that the chapters flicked between timelines and perspectives, it was interesting to see both MCs come to life across the pages, and the characters that they interacted with, I loved Zuzanne, Irena and Helena and found that their personalities really did come off the page! Plus, the plot twists throughout the book were great, there were characters that did not make it which really threw me off, as well as the ending which was joyous and refreshing to see in a historical fiction novel, as often the subject matter is dark, so the endings are often far from happy.
This is a great introduction into historical fiction, and to the story of Irena Sadler, this is a novel I would recommend to those starting out in this genre, as I feel seasoned historical fiction readers may find this book just slightly too romanticised.